DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-3, 7, 10, 12-14, 16-18, 20-22, 24, 26, 32, 35, and 36 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Vivo, “Discussion on RAN2 Impacts of Msg3 Repetition,” 3GPP Draft, R2-2107059, 3RD Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), vol. RAN WG2, August 6, 2021 (electronic retrieval), pp. 1-6, hereinafter referred to as D1.
Regarding claim 1, 16, 24, 26, 32, 35, and 36, D1 discloses Msg3 PUSCH repetition, which comprises:
measuring a signal strength of a downlink signal (Referring to Section 2.1, signal measurement per downlink based on signaling, signals for threshold comparison.);
based on whether the UE has a coverage enhancement (CE) capability, obtaining one or more signal strength thresholds related to the SDT and corresponding to the UE (Referring to Section 2.1, relating to Msg3 PUSCH repetition request, when none of the SSB(s) with SS-RSRP above rsp-ThresholdSSB is available (one or more signal strength thresholds related to the SDT and corresponding to the UE), the UE should further evaluate whether the measured SS-RSRP of all SSB(s) is under a new configured threshold for the repetition request. If the condition can be fulfilled, then the UE can decide to request Msg3 PUSCH repetition, where “repetition” provides the coverage enhancement limitation and Msg3 PUSCH (small data transmission) is a random access message utilized for sending data.); and
performing the SDT based on the signal strength and the one or more signal strength thresholds/determining the transmission method of the random access message to be a first transmission method or a second transmission method (Referring to Section 2.1, performing data transmission based on the measured signal strength and thresholds/ either Msg3 PUSCH repetition or not, depending on measured SS-RSRP compared to thresholds.)
Regarding claims 2 and 17, D1 discloses in response to the UE having the CE capability, obtaining a the one or more signal strength thresholds of the UE, wherein the one or more signal strength thresholds of the UE comprise a first threshold; wherein performing the SDT based on the signal strength and the one or more signal strength thresholds comprises: in response to the signal strength being greater than or equal to the first threshold, performing the SDT based on a 4-step random access channel (4-step RACH) (Referring to Section 2.1, relating to Msg3 PUSCH repetition request, when none of the SSB(s) with SS-RSRP above rsp-ThresholdSSB is available (one or more signal strength thresholds related to the SDT and corresponding to the UE), the UE should further evaluate whether the measured SS-RSRP of all SSB(s) is under a new configured threshold for the repetition request. If the condition can be fulfilled, then the UE can decide to request Msg3 PUSCH repetition, where “repetition” provides the coverage enhancement limitation and Msg3 PUSCH (small data transmission) is a random access message utilized for sending data and performing a 4-step RACH.)
Regarding claims 3 and 18, D1 discloses in response to the UE not having the CE capability, obtaining the one or more signal strength thresholds of the UE, wherein the one or more signal strength thresholds of the UE comprise the second threshold; wherein performing the SDT based on the signal strength and the one or more signal strength thresholds comprises: in response to the signal strength being greater than or equal to the second threshold, performing the SDT based on a 4-step random access channel (4-step RACH) (Referring to Section 2.1, relating to Msg3 PUSCH repetition request, when none of the SSB(s) with SS-RSRP above rsp-ThresholdSSB is available (one or more signal strength thresholds related to the SDT and corresponding to the UE), the UE should further evaluate whether the measured SS-RSRP of all SSB(s) is under a new configured threshold for the repetition request. If the condition can be fulfilled, then the UE can decide to request Msg3 PUSCH repetition, where “repetition” provides the coverage enhancement limitation and Msg3 PUSCH (small data transmission) is a random access message utilized for sending data and performing a 4-step RACH. Considered when “not fulfilled” as not having the CE capability.)
Regarding claims 7 and 20, D1 discloses in response to the UE having the CE capability, obtaining the one or more signal strength thresholds of the UE, wherein the one or more signal strength thresholds of the UE comprise a first threshold and a third threshold; wherein performing the SDT based on the signal strength and the one or more signal strength thresholds comprises: in response to the signal strength being greater than or equal to the first threshold and smaller than the third threshold, enabling the CE capability of the UE and performing the SDT (Referring to Section 2.1, relating to Msg3 PUSCH repetition request, when none of the SSB(s) with SS-RSRP above rsp-ThresholdSSB is available (one or more signal strength thresholds related to the SDT and corresponding to the UE, comprising ThresholdSSB and Threshold SSB-Msg3Repetition per Figure 2), the UE should further evaluate whether the measured SS-RSRP of all SSB(s) is under a new configured threshold for the repetition request. If the condition can be fulfilled, then the UE can decide to request Msg3 PUSCH repetition, where “repetition” provides the coverage enhancement limitation and Msg3 PUSCH (small data transmission) is a random access message utilized for sending data and performing a 4-step RACH.); or in response to the UE having the CE capability, obtaining the one or more signal strength thresholds of the UE, wherein the one or more signal strength thresholds of the UE comprise a third threshold and a fourth threshold: wherein performing the SDT based on the signal strength and the one or more signal strength thresholds comprises: in response to the signal strength being greater than or equal to the third threshold and smaller than the fourth threshold, disabling the CE capability of the UE and performing the SDT.
Regarding claims 10 and 21, D1 discloses in response to the UE having the CE capability, obtaining a fourth threshold as the one or more signal strength thresholds of the UE, wherein the one or more signal strength thresholds of the UE comprise a fourth threshold; wherein performing the SDT based on the signal strength and the one or more signal strength thresholds comprises: in response to the signal strength being greater than the fourth threshold, performing the SDT based on a 2-step random access channel (2-step RACH) (Referring to Section 2.1, relating to Msg3 PUSCH repetition request, when none of the SSB(s) with SS-RSRP above rsp-ThresholdSSB is available (one or more signal strength thresholds related to the SDT and corresponding to the UE, comprising ThresholdSSB and Threshold SSB-Msg3Repetition per Figure 2), the UE should further evaluate whether the measured SS-RSRP of all SSB(s) is under a new configured threshold for the repetition request. If the condition can be fulfilled, then the UE can decide to request Msg3 PUSCH repetition, where “repetition” provides the coverage enhancement limitation and Msg3 PUSCH (small data transmission) is a random access message utilized for sending data and performing a 4-step RACH. When the radio condition becomes good, the UE can just use the common RACH resource in the next RACH attempt (2-step RACH as taught in section 2, interpreted as disabling the enhanced coverage capability).)
Regarding claim 12, D1 discloses in response to the UE not having the CE capability, obtaining a second threshold and a fifth threshold as the one or more signal strength thresholds of the UE, wherein the one or more signal strength thresholds of the UE comprise a second threshold and a fifth threshold; wherein performing the SDT based on the signal strength and the one or more signal strength thresholds comprises: in response to the signal strength being greater than or equal to the second threshold and smaller than the fifth threshold, performing the SDT (Referring to Section 2.1, relating to Msg3 PUSCH repetition request, when none of the SSB(s) with SS-RSRP above rsp-ThresholdSSB is available (one or more signal strength thresholds related to the SDT and corresponding to the UE, comprising ThresholdSSB and Threshold SSB-Msg3Repetition per Figure 2), the UE should further evaluate whether the measured SS-RSRP of all SSB(s) is under a new configured threshold for the repetition request. If the condition can be fulfilled, then the UE can decide to request Msg3 PUSCH repetition, where “repetition” provides the coverage enhancement limitation and Msg3 PUSCH (small data transmission) is a random access message utilized for sending data and performing a 4-step RACH. When the radio condition becomes good, the UE can just use the common RACH resource in the next RACH attempt. Considered when “ the condition is not fulfilled” as not having the CE capability.)
Regarding claim 13, D1 discloses in response to the UE not having the CE capability, obtaining a fifth threshold as the one or more signal strength thresholds of the UE, wherein the one or more signal strength thresholds of the UE comprise a fifth threshold; wherein performing the SDT based on the signal strength and the one or more signal strength thresholds comprises: in response to the signal strength being greater than or equal to the fifth threshold, performing the SDT based on a 2-step random access channel (2-step RACH) (Referring to Section 2.1, relating to Msg3 PUSCH repetition request, when none of the SSB(s) with SS-RSRP above rsp-ThresholdSSB is available (one or more signal strength thresholds related to the SDT and corresponding to the UE, comprising ThresholdSSB and Threshold SSB-Msg3Repetition per Figure 2), the UE should further evaluate whether the measured SS-RSRP of all SSB(s) is under a new configured threshold for the repetition request. If the condition can be fulfilled, then the UE can decide to request Msg3 PUSCH repetition, where “repetition” provides the coverage enhancement limitation and Msg3 PUSCH (small data transmission) is a random access message utilized for sending data and performing a 4-step RACH. When the radio condition becomes good, the UE can just use the common RACH resource in the next RACH attempt (2-step RACH as taught in section 2). Considered when “ the condition is not fulfilled” as not having the CE capability.)
Regarding claims 14 and 22, D1 discloses receiving signaling from a network device, wherein the signaling carries the one or more signal strength thresholds corresponding to the UE wherein the signaling comprises at least one of: minimum remaining system information (RMSI), main information block (MIB), radio resource control (RRC), other system information (OSI), downlink control information (DCI), or media access control- control element (MAC-CE) (Referring to Section 2 and 2.1, per the standard, when a UE powers on or camps on a cell, it first decodes the MIB and SIB1. SIB1 contains: Basic system info (band, PLMN, cell ID, etc.).)
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Liu et al. (US 2020/0329506 A1) - The at least one channel quality threshold value is set according to at least one following type of channel quality: reference signal receiving power, a reference signal receiving quality, a downlink signal to interference plus noise ratio, a downlink signal to noise ratio, an uplink signal to interference plus noise ratio, an uplink signal to noise ratio, a downlink path loss, or an uplink path loss.
Chen et al. (US 2020/0146069 A1) - The method receives, at the UE, an RA configuration and a reference signal received power (RSRP) threshold. The method then determines whether a detected RSRP exceeds the RSRP threshold once the RA procedure is initiated. If the detected RSRP exceeds the RSRP threshold, the method performs a two-step RA procedure.
Zhang (US 2024/0080906 A1) - A communication node receives a first signaling; generates a first data block in a first radio state; when a first condition set is satisfied, transmits a first signal; and when the first condition set is not satisfied, transmits a second signal; the first signaling is used to determine a first threshold, the first threshold being a positive integer; the first condition set comprises a size relation between a first data size and the first threshold; the first data block comprises more than one bit, and the first data size is equal to a number of bits comprised in the first data block; the first signal is used for a first-type Random Access (RA) procedure, and the second signal is used for a second-type RA procedure; the first signal carries a first sequence.
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DONALD L. MILLS
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2462
/Donald L Mills/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2462
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